Iconic Mods: The Magic of Dean Ween's '61 Strat

Mickey Melchiondo—a,k,a, Dean Ween and one half of Pennsylvania experimental rock outfit Ween—has been a Stratocaster guy for a long time, dating back to a Squier Strat his father bought him as a teenager.

And even though he’s admittedly bought and sold “hundreds of Strats” over the years, Melchiondo is ubiquitously known for playing a heavily modified Dakota Red Stratocaster that is truly unique.

It all started back in the early 1990s, when Melchiondo stumbled into a Santa Monica, Calif., guitar store midway through a Ween tour. He was immediately drawn to what would become his signature instrument for years to come.

“I can’t really even describe to you the moment I found that guitar,” he told Fender.com. “I was leaving with that guitar. Whether it cost $50,000, it was going out the door with me. I knew that I had found the instrument that I had been looking for my entire life. It was really magical.”

According to the shop owner, the guitar was actually used on the recording of Tina Turner’s 1984 hit “Private Dancer,” and Melchiondo immediately noticed its pristine setup and uncommon jumbo frets. Interestingly enough, the Strat’s pre-CBS body also had a 1961 rosewood slab fingerboard neck bolted to it.

Considering its excellent playability, Melchiondo didn’t fuss with the guitar for a while. But the self-described tinkerer couldn’t hold off for long.

The first things he addressed were the pickups. As he does with all of his guitars, Melchiondo put Lace Sensor pickups in the middle and neck position and a roaring Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker in the lead position.

“The Seymour Duncan Hot Rails is the loudest pickup made known to man, and that’s why I like it,” he said. "It just really, really, really cranks – it gives you a lot more overdrive then a regular stock Fender pickup.

"The Lace Sensors are pretty quiet. A Strat is a notorious buzzing guitar–makes that telltale buzz on stage. They are noisy pickups because they are single coil pickups and they pickup AM radio and God knows what else, but the Lace Sensors are dead quiet. It takes that vintage sound of a Strat and just improves upon it."

The other changes to Melchiondo's Strat go beyond what he estimates are five or six refrets, four sets of tuners, and multiple tailpieces and saddles.

One time when Ween was on the road, the Strat’s saddles were too rusted to adjust the height of the strings, so he stuck tiny pieces of brass under them to get the action where he liked it. Melchiondo also stabilized the tremolo by hammering a piece of wood between the spring block and body to help maintain proper tuning.

Accoding to Melciondo, "all that's left on the '61 Strat is the wood, which makes it all his own and a trusted partner on stage and in the studio for more than two decades.

Funny thing is ... as many mods as Melchiondo has done on the guitar, he might not be finished.

“I believe that guitars are meant to be played," said Melchiondo. "My guitar is more than 50 years old and it would probably be more valuable in its original condition, but I need it to work to the best of its ability every night so I enjoy tinkering with it to make it the way I like it.”